1. Field of the Invention
Collapsible, height adjustable ironing boards.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Ironing tables of adjustable height which can be collapsed during storage have been well known for decades. Tables which have been disclosed in the last 20 years generally include a table member of predetermined width, a front leg and a rear leg for supporting the table member connected thereto and a means for adjusting the height of the table. Many inventions have been made directed to the height adjusting means. Typical of these inventions are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,974,431 and 3,126,875 to Ribaudo, 3,030,716 and 3,039,215 to Boardman 3,152,561 to Munson and 3,151,579 to Steinwedel. In all of these inventions the device further includes a transverse hollow tubular foot member for at least one of said legs wherein one of the legs is connected to the outer circumferential surface of said foot member, at a point proximate to but laterally displaced from the mid-point between the ends of said member. The reason for the lateral displacement will be clear from the illustrations of these inventions. The leg members must be collapsible on either side of the longitudinal axis of the table.
The principle of stabilization by adjustment of the foot member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,194 to Nielsen. This patent discloses a means for pivoting the foot member in a substantially vertical plane by about 10.degree. and then locking the foot member in that position. A board incorporating this device is marketed under the trade mark "Lady Seymour" with a "spreadfoot" base by Seymour Housewares of Seymour IN 47274. The foot member of this device is substantially U shaped with the open end facing the floor. Extension pieces, of substantially the same shape but slightly narrower, are pivotally connected to the inside of the foot member about 5 cm from each outer end of the foot member. About 2 cm from the ends of the foot members there is a small inwardly directed detent and a small hole in the extension piece a similar distance from the pivot towards its own end. In the storage position the extension pieces are folded into the respective foot members with their ends near the junction of the leg with the foot member. When in use, the extension pieces are folded out to extend beyond the normal width of the board and are locked into position by the interaction of the detents with the respective holes in the extension pieces. The board cannot be used without extending the extension pieces and the amount of extension cannot be varied.
Certain features of height adjustable, collapsible ironing boards have become standard in the trade. These features include the tip to heal length of the table and the width of the table. Further when the table is collapsed the maximum width of the foot members should not exceed the width of the table. The rear foot member should not protrude behind the heel and the from foot member should not protrude in front of the nose. While these are not absolute requirements, most manufactures adhere to them for shipping and point-of-sale convenience.
Ironing boards of the prior art have two problems related to stability. Because of the width constraint no devices have been made whose legs are wider than the table. Thus a theoretically available mode of stabilization has either not been recognized nor, if recognized, been adopted. The second problem relates to the fact that when a vertical force is applied to the table, as happens often with vigorous ironing, there is a tendency to V-shaped distortion at the point of juncture with the leg. Under certain circumstances, i.e. ironing on a solid and hard surface rather than on a padded carpeted surface, the device will tend to wobble due to bottoming at this point.
The second problem has been addressed by two of the above mentioned patents. Boardman U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,716 splits the leg end into a Y shaped format attached to two places on the foot member. This requires complex construction techniques and does not posses the strength of a weld at a single location. Steinwedel raises the cross section of the cap placed at the ends of the foot member with a rotatable cylindrical roller. Steinwedel's approach addresses the second problem but not the first. It would therefore be desireable to construct a board which can solve both aspects of the question of stability.